RUSSIAN GP – Lewis Hamilton reaches a century of wins admit chaotic and drama-filled wet final laps
Lewis Hamilton has become the first driver to reach a century of race wins in a dramatic final few laps in the Russian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver was battling McLaren’s Lando Norris throughout the race as the wet weather moved in, and with four laps to go, Hamilton took the gamble by switching to inters while Norris took the gamble by staying out.
The McLaren driver then ran wide as the track got damper before sliding off the track and giving Hamilton the lead as well as losing second place to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, before losing third when he was forced to switch to Inters to his former teammate Carlos Sainz.
Until the shower intervened in the closing stages with four laps to go, it looked likely that Norris was able to just about cover off the seven-times champion. Norris’s big gamble in the closing stages with eight laps to go being not to pit earlier when the rain started to get heavier.
When he did decide to pit, he ran across the pit entry line after on his in lap spinning into the barrier all costing the McLaren driver time. Hamilton also wanted to stay out, but was over ruled by Mercedes and pitted.
Norris the youngest British pole sitter looked to beat Hamilton’s record of the youngest British Grand Prix winner, after regaining the lead early on. But for the Bristolian it was another brilliant drive up until the mistake in a season where he has got the better of his more experienced teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Victory for McLaren would have been their first back to back wins since Austin and Interlagos in 2012, but Norris took responsibility saying “It was the wrong one at the end of the day but I made the decision just as much as the team.”
“We didn’t get it together as a team in hindsight, it was the wrong decision to stay out. There is always a chance to overrule him from the pit wall side. We wanted to go for the win, that’s why we decided together to stay out and it just didn’t work out.” admitted team principal Andreas Seidl.
The late shower proving key for both championship contenders, Hamilton had been trying to pass Norris for many laps but the McLaren certainly had enough pace to keep him behind, but the slip up saw Hamilton past. Verstappen, who started last, driving through the field to be able to shadow Hamilton from half distance, but by the end of the race was still fifty-three seconds behind.
While Verstappen may now have lost the championship led to Hamilton, he limited it to just two points with seven races scheduled to go in the next two and a half months. The Dutchman made a flying start in the first stint and that continued after his final stop.
The final stop was another intelligent decision, as it saw him gain positions as the rain moved into Sochi.
Norris driving a brilliant race, after losing the lead at the first braking point, he then started to close the gap to Sainz regaining the lead on lap twelve, he then built a decent lead by his stop on lap thirty-five.
The Englishman telling reporters, “I’m unhappy, devastated in a way. It was my decision, I thought it was the way to go.”
Hamilton, praised his fellow Englishman, “Lando did such an amazing job, he had incredible pace. It would’ve been tough to get past Lando unless we came up to some traffic or he made a mistake… so then the rain came and it was very opportunistic.”
Sainz also drove an excellent race to finish third following his poor start, but he did recover the lost momentum off the start at the first braking zone to sweep in front of George Russell and Norris to take the lead despite locking up. The battle between the two former teammates continued to the first round of stops.
Daniel Ricciardo recovering from a slow stop by putting in some overtaking to finish the race fourth, three seconds behind Sainz. Ricciardo losing out to Hamilton who was released into clear air.
Valtteri Bottas was fifth finishing the race thirteen seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, with Norris eventually finishing five seconds behind the Alpine. Bottas was first to stop when the conditions changed, allowing him to pick up five places by using the undercut having been stuck outside the points.
Kimi Raikkonen and Russell were the first to gamble on the inters making up places in the closing laps to finish eighth and tenth, split by the Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Russell knew going into the race that the Williams didn’t have the race pace and slowly slipped down the top ten, but still achieved his aim of points from the race.
Lance Stroll finished eleventh ahead of Aston Martin teammate Sebastian Vettel, the two drivers making contact twice during the closing stages, one of which included Pierre Gasly who finished thirty-five seconds behind. The collision between Gasly and Stroll is currently under investigation.
Charles Leclerc had also made an excellent recovery after starting alongside Verstappen, he was running in the points when the weather moved in. He lost out when he made his change to inters ultimately dropping to fifteenth, Leclerc looking to be closing in on fourth. The late stop dropping him seven seconds behind Esteban Ocon.
Antonio Giovinazzi was sixteenth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin. Nicolas Latifi retiring as the weather chaos began, while a hydraulic leak saw Mick Schumacher retire on lap twenty-two.
F1 heads to the middle east and Istanbul where Hamilton won a chaotic rain affected race to secure his seventh title, before its Americas leg and returning to the middle east in November. With possibly seven races to go, what other twists could come in this dramatic championship battle?
Related
- Russian GP – Qualifying Result
- RUSSIAN GP – Lando Norris takes maiden pole in wet qualifying as Lewis Hamilton spins twice
- RUSSIAN GP – Third Practice Cancelled As Heavy Rainfalls In Sochi
- Notebook – Russian Practice
- RUSSIAN GP – Valtteri Bottas four hundredths faster than Lewis Hamilton in second practice
- RUSSIAN GP – Valtteri Bottas leads Mercedes one-two in first practice, with Max Verstappen third
- F1 Today – Russian Prixview – 23/09/2021
- Prixview – Russian Grand Prix